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Abstract:

An electronic device includes a storage unit, a positioning unit, and a
processing unit. The storage unit stores geographic information for
defining various restricted areas and a disabling table recording one or
more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware of the electronic device
in each restricted areas. The positioning unit positions the electronic
device. The processing unit determines whether the electronic device
enters one restricted area according to the position of the electronic
device and the geographic information for defining the various restricted
areas, determines one or more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware
according to the disabling table when the electronic device enters one
restricted area, and disable the determined one or more to-be-disabled
applications and/or hardware when the electronic device enters the one
restricted area. A related method is also provided.

Claims:

1. An electronic device for disabling applications and hardware,
comprising: a storage unit storing geographic information for defining
various restricted areas and a disabling table recording one or more
to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware of the electronic device in
each of the restricted areas; a positioning unit to locate the position
of the electronic device; and a processing unit comprising: a position
tracking module to determine whether the electronic device enters one of
the restricted areas according to the position of the electronic device
and the geographic information; a determining module to determine one or
more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware according to the
disabling table when the electronic device enters one of the restricted
area; and a disabling module to disable the determined one or more
to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware when the electronic device
enters the one of the restricted area.

2. The electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the disabling
module is further to re-enable the one or more disabled applications
and/or hardware when the electronic device leaves the one of the
restricted area.

3. The electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the disabling
module is to disable each of the determined one or more to-be-disabled
hardware by calling applications for supporting the running of each of
the one or more determined to-be-disabled hardware.

4. The electronic device as described in claim 1, wherein the disabling
module is to disable each of the determined one or more to-be-disabled
applications by hiding an operation interface of each of the determined
one or more to-be-disabled applications when each of the determined one
or more to-be-disabled applications is opened.

5. A method for disabling applications and/or hardware applied in an
electronic device, the electronic device comprising a storage unit and a
positioning unit, the storage unit storing geographic information for
defining various restricted areas and a disabling table recording one or
more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware of the electronic device
in each of the restricted areas, the positioning unit being to locate the
position of the electronic device, the method comprising: determining
whether the electronic device enters one of the restricted areas
according to the position of the electronic device and the geographic
information; determining one or more to-be-disabled applications and/or
hardware according to the disabling table when the electronic device
enters one of the restricted area; and disabling the determined one or
more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware when the electronic
device enters the one of the restricted area.

6. The method as described in claim 5, further comprising: re-enabling
the one or more disabled applications and/or hardware when the electronic
device leaves the one of the restricted area.

7. The method as described in claim 5, wherein disabling the one or more
determined hardware comprises: disabling each of the determined one or
more to-be-disabled hardware by calling applications for supporting the
running of each of the one or more determined to-be-disabled hardware.

8. The method as described in claim 5, wherein disabling each of the one
or more determined application comprises: disabling each of the
determined one or more to-be-disabled applications by hiding an operation
interface of each of the one or more determined to-be-disabled
applications when each of the determined one or more to-be-disabled
applications is opened.

Description:

BACKGROUND

[0001] 1. Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to electronic devices and,
particularly, to an electronic device capable of disabling applications
and hardware of the electronic device and a method thereof.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] To avoid leakage of confidential information, some companies or
factories forbid employees to use electronic devices (e.g. smart phones)
in restricted areas. This can avoid leakage of confidential information,
but may also bring inconvenience to employees. For example, in a
photography-prohibited area, cameras are prohibited, but communication is
allowed. If smart phones having cameras are prohibited, communication
between employees may be limited. Therefore, a method to solve the above
problems is desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The components of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale,
the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the
principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like
reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several
views.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device for disabling
applications and hardware, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for disabling applications and
hardware, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electronic device 100. The
electronic device 100 is used for disabling applications (e.g. email) and
hardware (e.g. camera) of the device 100 when the device 100 is in
restricted areas. The device 100 may be a smart phone, or a handheld
computer. The device 100 includes a processing unit 10, a storage unit
20, and a positioning unit 30. The storage unit 20 stores geographic
information for defining various restricted areas and a disabling table.
The disabling table records one or more to-be-disabled applications
and/or hardware in each restricted area. The positioning unit 30 is used
to locate position of the device 100. In this embodiment, the positioning
unit 30 is a GPS unit.

[0009] The processing unit 10 includes a position tracking module 12, a
determining module 14, and a disabling module 16. The position tracking
module 12 determines whether the device 100 enters one restricted area
according to the position of the device 100 and the geographic
information for defining various restricted areas. The determining module
14 determines one or more to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware
according to the disabling table when the device 100 enters one
restricted area. The disabling module 16 disables the one or more
determined to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware when the device
100 enters the one restricted area, and re-enables the disabled
applications and/or hardware when the device 100 leaves the one
restricted area.

[0010] In this embodiment, the disabling module 16 disables one
to-be-disabled hardware by calling applications for supporting the
running of the to-be-disabled hardware, and re-enables the disabled
hardware by releasing the called applications. If the applications for
supporting the running of the to-be-disabled hardware are called by the
disabling module 16, the to-be-disabled hardware cannot be started by
clicking the application icon of the to-be-disabled hardware. For
example, if the to-be-disabled hardware is a camera, when the disabling
module 16 disables the camera, users cannot open the camera to take
photos. In this embodiment, the disabling module 16 disables one
to-be-disabled application by hiding an operation interface of the
to-be-disabled application when the to-be-disabled application is opened,
and re-enables one disabled application by re-displaying the operation
interface of the disable application. Other methods for disabling
applications and hardware can also be employed.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for disabling applications and
hardware of the device 100, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

[0012] In step S301, the position tracking module 12 determines whether
the device 100 enters one restricted area according to the position of
the device 100 and the geographic information for defining various
restricted areas. If yes, the procedure goes to step S302, otherwise the
procedure goes to step S303.

[0013] In step S302, the determining module 14 determines one or more
to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware according to the disabling
table.

[0014] In step S303, the disabling module 16 disables the one or more
determined to-be-disabled applications and/or hardware. After executing
step S303, the procedure returns to step S301.

[0015] In step S304, the disabling module 16 determines there is one or
more disabled applications and/or hardware of the device 100 when the
device 100 is not in any restricted area. If yes, the procedure goes to
step S305, otherwise the procedure returns to step S301.

[0016] In step S305, the disabling module 16 re-enables the one or more
disabled applications and/or hardware. After executing step S305, the
procedure returns to step S301.

[0017] With such configuration, when the electronic device 100 enters a
restricted area, some applications and/or hardware which may bring
leakage of confidential information are automatically disabled, thus
information leakage is avoided. Thus, the electronic device 100 can be
used to help person's work without information leakage.

[0018] Although the present disclosure has been specifically described on
the basis of the exemplary embodiment thereof, the disclosure is not to
be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications
may be made to the embodiment without departing from the scope and spirit
of the disclosure.